Are S coins silver or just clad?

[weighit]

I have been saving the 'S' coins I find in my box hunting of halves and have a small pile. I was going to list them for sale on Craig's List and wondered if these were in fact containing any silver. If so I would keep them as opposed to selling them off cheap. If you look a the edges there is no sign of copper making them clad.

 

[Coppercrazy]

S mint mark coins are proofs or regular years. If they have a shiny reflective like surface they are proofs. Proofs generally don't contain silver, but sometimes they can be silver proofs.

 

[SilverFace]

It depends - some are clad some are silver. All the '71S - '91S are clad except for some of the '76S. I've still never found a modern date 90% silver proof yet. But I have found 2 x '68S, '69S and a silver '76S this year. I would imagine if you do have any 90% silver proofs they would be very silver looking and easy to differentiate from clad and should sound silver too. Good luck.

 

[weighit]

I have these dates, they are all out of circulation and show some signs of wear but they are true S coins. 1968,71,72,73,74,76,77,79,80,81,82,83,89,90,2000, & 2007. I have 25 coins. If you look at the edge not one has a hint of copper, but I would keep them if they had silver in them and I can not tell.

 

[SilverFace]

The '68S is definitely 40% silver because that's all they made that year. All the '71S - '90S you have are clad because they didn't make any silver proof coins during those years. The '00S and '07S coins could be 90% silver but are probably clad too. Maybe the glossy finish hides the copper edges a little but if they were 90% silver proofs they would probably look bright white all over and you should be able to tell for sure.

Edit: Sorry, the '76S could be 40% silver - they made both clad and 40% silver proof halves that year.

 

[weighit]

Well I guess I needed to put my glasses on before I asked the question. The 68 S is not showing any copper at all, and is silver, but upon looking closer, all the rest do show signs of the copper, so I thank you all for the correct information, again. This is a GREAT site and I really appreciate all the help.

 

[SilverFace]

Well, at least you have one silver proof for sure and maybe two if that '76S is silver. You might want to take a close look at that one just to make sure. Most of the '76S halves I find are just clad but I've also found a few silver '76S halves the past few years.

HH!

 

[boristhespider88]

Also of note that for 1976-S coins there are actually 3 different variations:

Clad Proof '76-S
40% Silver Business Strike '76-S
40% Silver Proof '76-S

(In that order, left to right)

View attachment 1018518

 

[fistfulladirt]

S-proof non silver halves aren't difficult to find.

I've found both silver and non silver S-proof dimes (3), which are a lot more difficult to find via roll hunting.

 

[weighit]

Well it took about 2 hours to sell a roll of 'S' half dollar coins on Craig's List for $40. These are all clad and the buyer wants them for a gift for a child that is now collecting coins..Thanks guys for all your help in answering my question.